


Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

by megyal



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Apocalypse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-09
Updated: 2008-11-09
Packaged: 2017-11-14 20:57:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/519435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megyal/pseuds/megyal





	Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

Andy was kneading the dough for the bread with strong, rhythmic movements when Matt came downstairs with a knitted cap pulled low over his thick dark hair.

"There's a woman," he said without preamble, pulling on his gloves and going towards the door. The candles flickered fretfully in his wake. "A woman's outside the fence."

"Don't go out there," Andy warned and Matt stopped in his tracks, the line of his shoulders taut. "You know don't know if she--"

"She has a kid. A _baby_." Matt turned his head slightly, and Andy watched his jaw clench; he kept kneading.

"Don't go out there," he repeated in a deceptively mild voice and Matt's shoulders slumped. "Give me a minute."

Matt stood there defiantly for about ten seconds, but Andy simply carried on with his bread-making; Matt stomped off towards the living room, peering outside the windows to the frosty yard. From this angle, he wouldn't see anything past the tall fortification that now bordered the yard, but Matt was always the hopeful type.

"Okay," Andy said as he put the pans in the oven. "Let's go back upstairs, so I can take a look."

Matt gave him a long, searching glance as they met at the foot of the staircase. The house seemed overly large with just the two of them in it; Andy wondered every day where the rest of the guys had been when the virus struck with vengeful speed.

If they were still alive.

"After you," Matt said with a spectre of a smile haunting his face. Andy looked up at him, nodded and then went ahead.

Matt's bedroom was one that looked out onto the silent dark river of the road. Andy went to the window and pushed it open; it moved smoothly and Andy gave Matt a sidelong look; Matt shrugged. There was indeed a woman huddled against the solid timber wall.

"Please," she said faintly, bushy black hair curling around her drawn face. Andy's lips tightened when her glance locked with his. The yellow ring around her irises, that was a very bad sign. "Please, it's so cold."

"I'm sorry," Andy called back and Matt made a noise beside him. "We can't."

"I'm... I'm not infected!" the woman lied, and Andy simply stared at her. Her cheeks, already flushed with fever, went even redder. "I... the baby is fine, just. He's so _hungry_."

As if to bolster this claim, a small hand waved out of the bundle of cloth she carried in her arms. A thin wail emanated as well.

Andy hardened his heart.

"No," he said and Matt grabbed him by one shoulder and hauled him away from the window, pressing him against the wall. Andy thought he was going to strike him in the face, the way his eyes blazed. "If we let her in," Andy said harshly, "she'll fuck us _up_."

"The baby," Matt gritted out and shook Andy roughly. "You're going to let a _baby_ die out there."

"Better him than us," Andy spat, grabbing Matt's hands and flinging them away. He poked Matt in the chest, a furious finger to his sternum. "You don't fucking know if he's infected. _Think_ for a fucking second and stop being a frigging bleeding-heart _idiot_."

Matt punched him right in the mouth. Andy, who hadn't been actually expecting it, felt his head snap back, the back of it striking the wall behind him. Andy stared up at him, dumbfounded in the few seconds before the pain caught up and he winced, touching his mouth gingerly.

"I know this is what you've always wanted," Matt said harshly, stepping away. "But... no matter if the world is ending, people are still out there. Human beings."

"Human beings who'll give us a shitty man-made virus and we suffer and _die_. That baby's infected." Andy turned his head and spat, taking a vindictive pleasure in aiming for Matt's bed; he missed, but at least it hit the threadbare rug. Matt's eyes were slitted at him; Andy glared back, before taking a long, calming breath. "This is just how it is," he said slowly. "This is how it has to go. By the way? The world _has_ ended. Deal with it."

Matt's nostrils flared. "A baby," was all he replied in flat tones and then went back to his window to look out. He stared out for a long time and then sighed, looking at Andy with haunted eyes. "They're gone."

"Good." Andy pushed away from the wall, and brushed past him. "Let them stay gone."

 

* * *

 

Matt came to him in the deep quiet of the night, a furious press of lips and bruising fingers, punishing him for that baby. Andy took it because he could, because he was stronger than Matt and had to be strong for the both of them to survive. He took Matt's persistent thrusts on his hands and knees, thick cock burrowing inside him, Matt's big hands digging into his hips.

"I fucking hate you," Matt told him brokenly, biting the curve of his neck, his hand tugging at Andy's cock. "God, I _hate_ you."

"There's no god," Andy panted out, his eyes squeezed shut. "There's... there's only you and me."

Later, when Matt's come dribbled slowly out of his used hole and Matt's back was turned to him, Matt murmured, "I don't hate you."

Andy ran a hand over his shoulder, down to rest lightly on his hip and said, "I know."

 

* * *

 

Matt came inside with the baby in his arms.

Andy swore, backing away quickly, knocking over an electric lamp that hadn't used electricity for a long time, and might not ever again. Andy had sent him out to check on the fence, if everything was in good order and _he came back in with the fucking baby_.

"You get that baby out of here," Andy said, but Matt wasn't even looking at him.

"She left him there, right at the gate." Matt was looking down into the swaddling in his arms, smiling softly. "He's... he's fine."

"I don't give a fuck!" Andy spat and Matt raised his head, looking at him solemnly. "You don't know--"

"I _know_ ," Matt said and he stepped closer. Andy gaped at him in a kind of awed betrayal as Matt came right up to him, tilting the cradle of his arms so that Andy could see a round, pale face, a shock of dark hair... and wide, yellow eyes.

"Oh, fuck," Andy said weakly.

"This isn't the infection, he doesn't have all that other stuff. No rash, no funny breathing, nothing. He's _fine_ ," Matt said with a sudden flash of cheerful confidence, just as sunny as he used to be, and Andy blinked up at him. "This... it's _adaptation_ , Hurley. The world isn't ending." He gave Andy a slow, hopeful smile. "It's moving on."

Andy stared, even as Matt leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth.

"His name is Eden," Matt said softly, and went into the kitchen, cooing at the baby softly. The baby laughed back, a shockingly loud sound in the quiet house.

Andy leaned against the wall; he slid down it after a few beats, put his forehead against his knees, and breathed slowly.

_fin_


End file.
